There is growing evidence of a harmonic convergence of Infrastructure and Operations (I&O) with Security and it is hardly an accident. We often view them as separate worlds, but it’s obvious that they have more in common than they have differences. I live in the I&O team here at Forrester, but I get pulled into many discussions that would be classified as “security” topics. Examples include compliance analysis of configuration data and process discipline to prevent mistakes. Similarly, our Security analysts get pulled into process discussions and other topics that encroach into Operations territory. This is as it should be.

Some examples of where common DNA between I&O and Security can benefit you and your organization are:

• Gain economic benefit by cross-pollinating skills, tools, and organizational entities
• Improve service quality AND security with the same actions and strategies
• Learn where the two SHOULD remain separate
• Combine operational NOC and security SOC monitoring into a unified command center
• Develop a plan and the economic and political justifications for intelligent combinations

As you probably know, Facebook and Amazon are allowing consumers to connect the two sites.  What I find most interesting is the care Amazon is taking to inform consumers what this will mean to them and why they should do it.  Given Facebook’s repeated stumbles on issues of consumer privacy, the approach being taken by Amazon is one every marketer should note and consider. What’s important about Amazon’s approach is that it's not simply leaving the communication of important information to Facebook. 

CNN, for example, lets Facebook do the talking. Below is Facebook’s standard "Request for Permission" page, which is the message consumers receive when they click the button to connect CNN with their Facebook profile.  What does it tell users?  CNN can "access my basic information," but what will they do with it?  Will they share or sell it further?  Will it be made available to marketers or other users?  Will my list of friends -- one of the items mentioned in the list of basic information that will be shared -- receive information from CNN as a result of my actions?  And what information will CNN send to Facebook -- every page I visit or only the ones I "like"?